


Lieutenant Decker

by Kat_d86



Series: AU Season 4 [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Chloe KNOWS, Crime, Devil face, F/M, Gen, Lots of Angst, Murder
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-16 02:13:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18511816
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_d86/pseuds/Kat_d86
Summary: AU Season 4 Episode 1 : After months of avoiding each other since Cain was killed and she saw his Devil Face, Chloe and Lucifer are forced to face one another after his prints turn up at the scene of a murder.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Idea came to me right after the cancellation but now the show got picked up this will be Alternate Universe Season 4

Chloe Decker walked towards the Lieutenant’s office carrying a stack of files. Her long blonde hair was twisted up out the way in a no-nonsense bun and she wore dark trousers and a pale business shirt with flat, sensible, shoes. Her ex, Detective Dan Espanoza, was close at her heels and held the door for her. He was a few inches taller and wore a brown, suede jacket over a grey t-shirt and dark skinny fit jeans.

“I’m just saying, you’re the one who wanted planned family time” He said as he followed her into the room.

“I’m sorry. I’ll make it up to both of you but if I don’t get these reviews done by the end of the week the Captain will have my ass” she replied in an exhausted tone.

“I know, but you’ve been so caught up in work I thought you could do with a break” Dan added.

“And I appreciate it. You and Trixie go. She’ll love it.” She knew he meant well but she didn’t really have time for this right now.

“You’re sure? Roller Derby has always been yours and Trixie’s thing” Dan pointed out as Chloe dropped the paperwork on the edge of the desk. It was scrupulously neat with everything laid out in the most efficient manner. The name label read ‘Lt Chloe Decker’ and was made of no-nonsense wood rather than the fancy glass example Pierce had owned. 

‘Cain,’ she reminded herself, ‘his name was Cain and he was an immortal from the Bible.’

She pushed the thought away, not for the first time, and took a deep breath to clear her head. As she looked down, she saw a takeout coffee sitting next to her name plate. A tiny wisp of steam showed it was still hot and the barista’s scribbled handwriting declared it to be a tall, non-fat, almond milk latte with sugar-free caramel drizzle for ‘The Detective’. She picked it up and immediately threw it in the trash, rather forcibly. Dan looked down tactfully.

“That from Lucifer?” he asked but Chloe didn’t answer and instead sat down at her desk. “He’s got you a coffee every day since your promotion” he pointed out.

“And if I ever find out how he’s getting it in the building I’ll arrest him for it” she snapped. She’d given orders to the front desk, desk sergeants, janitors and everyone else she could think of that no one, under any circumstances, was to deliver her coffee without her express permission and still one turned up every day. She never drank any of them.

“Or you could talk to the guy” Dan suggested.

“No!” She surprised herself with her knee jerk reaction but the idea of so much as standing in the same room as Lucifer made her shiver. ‘He’s the Devil. It’s all true.’ The thought can unbidden and she gave a cough before continuing more calmly. “No, after everything that happened with...Marcus. I can’t, Dan, I just can’t” She could still see it when she closed her eyes: walking down the steps and seeing Marcus, Cain, bleeding on the floor with Lucifer standing over him. Then he had turned around and she had seen....she shuddered and pushed the memory out of her mind. Dan saw her reaction, even if he didn’t know what it was really about, and nodded.

“Ok, let me know if you need anything” he offered. As he turned to leave, Chloe picked up her messages and started to read through them.

“Hey, Dan” she called as he got to the door.

“Yes” he paused, hope evident in his voice, and turned back towards her.

“New case came in. You may as well take it” She held out the paper to him. His face fell slightly as he came back across the room and took it from her.

“Right, of course, work” he muttered and headed out.

\----

“Come on, Dan, she’s still getting the hang of things. Can you really blame her for being so busy?” Ella asked as the two of them walked towards the main gate of the city dump. The Medical Examiner’s van and a police cruiser were still parking up behind them.

“It’s not that” Dan said as he took a look around. Garbage trucks made their way into the landfill site and he wrinkled his nose at the pungent smell. “Chloe would always throw herself into work when we were having problems. But after a few days she’d calm down and things would go back to normal. It’s been months and she still hasn’t stopped. I’m getting worried”

“Well, there was a lot to sort out after she and Lucifer took down Pierce, then after all the evidence that he was a fraud came to light” She pointed out. Dan stopped and put his hands on his hips. Once Pierce had been confirmed as both the Sinnerman and dead, dozens of cops had been revealed to be in his pocket. Some came forward of their own free will, claiming they were being blackmailed, whilst others were caught when they no longer had anyone to cover for them in exchange for favours. I.A. had had their work cut out sorting one from the other and Dan knew they were all lucky not to have been caught in the cross fire.

“I know and I’m proud of her. She deserved the promotion for the way she handled everything and I’m happy Down Town just wanted the whole thing swept under the rug. But it feels like she’s pushing everyone else away” he lamented.

“Don’t worry. I’m here for you buddy.” Ella stepped over and gave him a quick hug “I’m sure Chloe will be back to normal once she’s got a handle on all the Lieutenant stuff. I’m just sad Lucifer isn’t around anymore” She said with a shake of her head. Lucifer was still technically a consultant for the department but he hadn’t been to the station since he gave his final statement following Pierce’s death. Chloe hadn’t asked for him and he wasn’t answering anyone else’s calls. 

“You know, that part I don’t mind so much” Dan said as they broke apart and Ella frowned slightly as they continued walking.

“You guys LAPD?!” The heavy-set man wore an orange safety vest and a hard hat as he stepped out a low building by the gate.

“Yes, that’s us. Report said you found a body?” Dan replied and the man nodded.

“One of my guys ploughed it up this morning. This way” He pointed over his shoulder and headed off towards the giant mountain of garbage. 

When they finally got to the scene, Dan was extremely grateful the call had come in before he’d had a chance to eat. The body of a woman was caught between the teeth on the front scoop of a bulldozer and was held up like some demented scarecrow. One arm was broken and twisted at an extremely unnatural angle and the other was still buried in the stack of garbage the truck had been trying to move when it made the gruesome discovery. By her clothes she looked like a club goer with her hair and face still recognisably made-up for a night out. Her dress was skin tight and seemed to be made of some shiny gold fabric, although it was hard to tell under all the grime. The one leg he could see, and really hoped was still attached, was sporting a six-inch stiletto heel.

“What happened?” Dan asked the Foreman as Ella and the Medical Examiner got out their equipment to begin their examination.

“All yesterday’s deliveries got dumped out in this area. This morning the dozers came in to flatten it off and found her” The man replied, and Dan tried not to look behind him as the M.E. skewered the corpse with a giant thermometer to try and get a liver temperature but he still heard it. The slight squelch of sharp metal penetrating dead flesh always sent a shiver down his spine no matter how many crime scenes he saw.

“So, you think she was in one of the garbage trucks?” Dan asked as he strived to keep his attention on the conversation.

“Well she sure as hell didn’t walk up here” the Foreman pointed out and Dan had to agree with him.

“Even so, we’re gonna have to take a look at your security footage” He said as Ella moved on to taking pictures of the victim.

“Be my guest but it only covers the front gate” The Foreman told him.

“It that all?” Dan asked, slightly surprised, and the man waved his hand to indicate the site. 

“Not like people are clamouring to get in here” he said.

“Fair point. How about the trucks that unloaded here last night, do you know where in the city they picked up from?” he asked instead.

“All over. I can get you the log?” the man offered.

“That would be very helpful, thank you” Dan managed to keep the disappointment out of his voice. He had really hoped that would have narrowed it down to a specific neighbourhood. It looked like this one was going to involve a lot of leg work. He turned back to see the M.E. and his assistant lifting the body out of the trash pile whilst Ella was placing what looked like random garbage into evidence bags.

“What have we got?” he asked and she stepped back.

“Female, early 20s, multiple contusions and broken bones but hard to tell if they were pre or post mortem till we get her cleaned up” She paused as the body was removed and lent in to take multiple pictures of the trash around where she had been wedged. “Not much blood on, well, anything so she was probably killed someplace else then dumped here. No pun intended” she added the last quickly after Dan tilted his head at her.

“Time of death?” He asked.

“Hard to tell but initial assessment is sometime in the last 24 to 48 hours” she told him as she zoomed her camera in to get a shot of the stained bulldozer teeth.

“Really, you can’t be more specific than that?” He was surprised. Normally Ella could give them a much tighter window. She gave him a sideways glance.

“Patience. The impossible we do at once, miracles take longer” She said to which the M.E. smiled. “Body has already cooled so you’ll have to wait for the autopsy report” Dan took the chastisement with a slight smile.

“Well how about cause of death?” he asked instead as he took another look around the scene.

“Until we know how much is from the bulldozer we can’t tell you that either. No obvious bullet or stab wounds” She bent down to inspect the body again and the M.E. pointed to the woman’s throat. “Oh, do you think it’s deep enough?” she asked and the two had a mumbled conversation until Dan coughed.

“Oh, right, sorry. Ligature marks on the throat. Possible from a chain. Looks to be pre-mortem but won’t know for sure till we get all the dirt off. Well, I mean, hopefully it’s just dirt. Who knows what could be in here” She continued extrapolating all the disgusting substances they could be standing on right that second but Dan wasn’t listening. He was looking over her shoulder at the other half of the garbage mound the bulldozer hadn’t flattened yet. He waited for the sun to come back out from behind a cloud and was rewarded with the same glint that had drawn his attention in the first place. 

“Hold on” He said as he held up his hand to Ella without taking his eyes off the spot. As he walked forward he made out a large sequined purse with a chunky gold chain as a shoulder strap sticking out between two garbage bags. It seemed a little big for a night out but the style matched the victims outfit and it clearly wasn’t trash. 

“Good eye” Ella commented as she snapped a picture so Dan could pull it out and open it. “Wow, this thing costs more than my car” she said as she saw the designer label on the inside. Dan found a wallet and Ella’s eyes widened “And that’s my rent!”

“Even with the garbage juice?” He asked with a smile as he handed her the bag so he could check the purse for ID. He pulled out a Californian drivers licence and read out the name. “Brittney Johnson, 23. Cash and credit cards still here.” he said as he checked the rest of the purse then held up the ID for a closer look.

“At least we have a name” Ella said. 

“It’s fake” he announced.

“What? You sure?” She asked as he rubbed his gloved fingers over the plastic again and tilted it to catch the light. 

“Yep. It’s pretty good but there’s no way this is real” he confirmed.

“So we just need to find some other was to ID our victim” Ella said, determined as ever, as she looked through the rest of the bag. Lipstick, make up compact and a hair brush all seemed pretty standard but a confused look crossed her face as she pulled out the only other item. It was wrapped in napkins, likely the reason it had remained intact, and was surprisingly heavy for its size. Ella unrolled it carefully to reveal a single glass tumbler. 

“Ok, that’s weird” Dan said. It wasn’t exactly a normal item you’d expect to find in a woman’s handbag. There was a slight yellow residue in the bottom and Ella gave it a cautious sniff. 

“Whiskey, I think. I’ll know more when I get it back to the lab” She turned the napkins over to inspect them too. “Um, Dan” she sounded concerned and he looked up from the purse. She held up one of the napkins so he could clearly see the emblazoned ‘L’ that was the logo for Lux. The two of them took a long, silent, look at the dirty whiskey glass.

“What are the chances...” Dan started.

“Absolutely no chance” Ella interrupted.

“But can you get prints off that, right?” he asked.

“Of course” She handed him back the bag and walked over to her kit. Neither of them said anything as she carefully dusted the outside of the glass, took a photo with her phone and uploaded it. “It’ll take a while to go through all the databases so...” He phone pinged a reply before she could finish and she opened the attached search results. She stared, dumbfounded, at the screen and held it up for Dan to see. 

‘Lucifer Morningstar, 94% match’. 

Alongside the name was Lucifer’s picture from when he’s had to get his consultant credentials and ride-along clearance, the smug smile looked more like a Hollywood head shot than a police photo.

“How could Lucifer’s prints be on a glass in a dead woman’s purse?” She asked but Dan only shook his head sadly. 

“We have to tell Chloe”


	2. Chapter 2

Decker walked down the first set of steps into Lux and paused. She rested her hand on the railing and looked down onto the main floor. It was quiet with no more than background music and gentle chatter from the few afternoon drinkers to break up the silence. It looked no different than the last time she had visited but Lucifer’s self titled ‘den of iniquity’ gave her an uncomfortable vibe now she knew the truth about him. The idea that he was somehow twisting people’s souls kept popping into her mind. It was ludicrous but then a few months ago so was the idea that the Devil was real. She’d seen him get enough people to talk with his weird mojo power to know it made them admit their deepest desires but what else could he make people do? She didn’t know and it wasn’t like there was anyone she could ask. Well, there was one person.

She saw him sitting at the piano and was caught with a rare moment of panic. He had his back to her, just like last time, and in her mind’s eye she saw him turn to reveal a scarred, red face with burning eyes. This time she held herself still rather than running back up the stairs. She hadn’t even reached the first landing before she’d stopped herself and turned back but when she did Lucifer had gone, and Cain was dead with one of Maze’s blades sticking out of his chest. The Devil had killed him.

‘You’re here for work. Stick to the case’ she told herself. It had been her mantra for the last few months as her mind came up with more and more questions: ‘If Lucifer was real then what about Amenadil? Heaven and Hell were a thing so what would happen when she died? Did this mean Creationists were right and Evolution was just a big joke? Did Lucifer really spent thousands of years torturing people? If it’s all true that makes Maze a demon, right? How could she have left her alone with Trixie?’

She didn’t have any answers, at least none that made sense, and they hadn’t seen each other since that day. At first she’s avoided him, thrown herself into work and hoped it would all go away. Then she had been promoted and she’s expected him to try and see her. It’d been almost four months and a cup of coffee turned up in her office every morning but he never did.

She took a deep breath and looked behind her. The uniformed cop she had brought with her waited patiently for her order. She took reassurance in the fact that Lucifer was less likely to do anything supernatural around other witnesses... at least she hoped he wouldn’t. She couldn’t help but recall the time he’d pushed a man through a plate glass window or whatever it was he’d done to Jimmy Barnes that put him in the psyche ward. She finally understood the fear she’s seen in his eyes simply at the mention of Lucifer’s name. She was putting it off. She signalled to the officer to follow her and descended the stairs.

Hardened socialites looked up as she entered. Her business slacks and button-down shirt didn’t really fit with the revealing outfits most of them wore. Add in the obvious cop behind her and she piqued their interest. By the time she reached the piano half the room was surreptitiously watching her. Good.

“Mr Morningstar?” she asked in the most official police voice she could manage.

“Chloe?” Lucifer stood and turned in one fluid motion that he somehow made look graceful despite his surprise. His face was human, complete with designer stubble and perfect hair. His white shirt was pristine, his dark suit perfectly cut and she knew she shouldn’t have expected anything else. He seemed ecstatic to see her then he noticed the cop standing behind her and his face became an expressionless mask. “What’s happened?” he demanded, all joy sucked out of his words. 

Despite everything she now knew Chloe still felt a twinge of guilt to see him so crestfallen when he realised this was an official visit. But that was the entire reason she had brought someone with her. It forced them both to keep up appearances. To be professional and stopped the conversation veering into dangerous territory, like the fact Lucifer was the actual Devil. 

‘But he’d looked so happy to see me.’ She pushed the feeling aside and squashed it down with all the others. ‘Focus on work. Things make sense there. Logic still works.’ She told herself then held up a copy of the victims fake ID. 

“A woman going by the name Brittney Johnson was found dead this morning” She held out a second photo of the whiskey glass, “This was found at the scene with your prints all over it. Care to explain?”

“I wish I could Detective...”

“Lieutenant” she corrected him and he gave a tight smile. 

“Of course, my apologies” He said formally as he took the photos. She made sure her hand was on the other side of the page. She tried to be subtle but she noticed the tiny twitch of his eye as he took them from her. He inspected them carefully before looking up. “I’m afraid I don’t recognise the woman and I’ve no idea how my finger prints came to be there. Where was she found?” he enquired and she narrowed her eyes, immediately suspicious of his interest.

“Municipal Landfill” she said eventually and he raised his perfect eyebrows. 

“And this?” he held up the photo of the glass. It matched the half filled tumbler currently sitting on the piano lid and at least a dozen others in the hands of the patrons who were pretending not to be watching the exchange.

“It was also found at the dump, in her purse” Chloe informed him.

“Right, all rather far from my neck of the woods. Wouldn’t you say?” he waved his arm to indicate Lux.

“Yes, VERY far” she replied and he twitched again. She’s hadn’t meant to turn this into a fight but he clearly wasn’t taking this seriously. “So you’re saying you have no connection to the victim?” She turned back to the matter at hand. ‘Focus on business’ she reminded herself.

“None that I’m currently aware of” Lucifer replied, equally professional, and handed the photos back. Chloe took them carefully, making sure she didn’t touch him, as he turned to pick up his ever-present drink and took a long sip.

“You do have a habit of collecting Brittneys. Accidents can happen” She said and his head snapped round to look at her.

“Do you really think me capable of that?” He asked in a sharp tone she recognised, she had offended him and for a brief moment she felt a stab of fear over how he might react. However, she wanted the truth so she carried on regardless.

“Honestly, I don’t know what you’re capable of” It hurt him to hear her say it, she could tell by the way his expression changed, but she needed to get to the truth. “Would you have any objection to us looking through your phone?” she asked and he stiffened. His eyes flicked briefly to the cop standing behind her before he put down his glass.

“No, of course not” he said curtly and pulled out a sleek, top of the line, model. It was a clear upgrade from the last one Chloe had seen him using. As he held it out Decker took a tiny step back and just for an instant a pained look crossed his face. She nodded to the officer with her who stepped up and took the phone from him. 

“The password?” she asked.

“It hasn’t changed” he replied, his expression back to normal.

“Right, ‘carnal’”

“Capital ‘C’” he confirmed.

“I remember” she said and just for a moment she gave a tiny smile at the memory of a simpler time. When he could be infuriatingly thoughtless by running off to Vegas and getting married then amazingly sweet by throwing her, her own prom. When she wouldn’t see him for days then he’d spend all night playing monopoly with her and Trixie. His single mindedness when it came to punishing the guilty on every case they worked together, even if he inevitable made it all about himself. 

She realised she missed it. Back when the world made sense. A time when all the ‘devil talk’ was just a part of her partners delusional metaphors but she’d come to care for him anyway. 

When he’d kissed her. 

Her body shamelessly reminded her what that had felt like and she had to swallow hard to avoid blushing as she pushed the thought away. ‘He’s the Devil’ she told herself. He furrowed his brow at her silence. 

“Detective....?” he started forward but she held up her hand and he stopped instantly.

“Thank you for your assistance Mr Morningstar. We’ll be in touch” She spoke in a slight rush then turned with the uni cop close at her heels. As she left the conversation picked back up around them as the clientele started gossiping about what they’d just witnessed but Lucifer paid it no heed.

Instead he watched Chloe every step of the way. Only when she was completely out of sight did he sit down and pick up his drink. He swirled the amber liquid, deep in thought, before he eventually looked up in the direction she had gone. In one smooth motion he drained his glass, stood and left.


	3. Chapter 3

Lucifer knocked on the door of Linda’s apartment and waited. He could hear raised voices within, something about laundry, and he knocked again harder to make sure he’s been heard. A few seconds later the door opened and he found himself face to face with Maze.

“What?” the demon snapped before she realised who was there. He gave her a cold stare that she held for only a few seconds before she lowered her head. She took a step back and he strode passed her into the apartment without a word.

The living room looked like a Laundromat had exploded. Clothes were thrown everywhere and the majority of them seemed to be either skin tight or made of leather. The miniature palm tree in the corner was broken in half and a dart board hung on the wall with several knives sticking out of it. It was a far cry from the prim and proper den he’d seen on his previous visits. Although he and Linda had come up with some creative uses for some of the furniture that would’ve made any Real Housewife faint in shock. The Doctor herself was picking things off the floor and turned as he entered.

“And another thing...” she said only to catch herself when she realised he wasn’t Maze. “Oh, Lucifer, hi. I wasn’t expecting you”

“Doctor” He greeted her fondly but didn’t smile “I actually came to see Mazikeen”

“Oh. Did you two....erm....patch things up?” She phrased it very carefully, trying to keep things light, but the reminder of what Maze had done when she allied herself with Cain still caused a tide of anger to rise up inside him for a brief moment.

“Potentially” he replied and turned to face Maze who stood in the doorway behind him with her arms folded. “A woman calling herself Brittney Johnson was found dead this morning at the municipal landfill whilst in possession of a glass covered in my fingerprints” he informed her.

“And?” Maze answered with a shrug. It was impossible for her to be genuinely timid but Lucifer had known her long enough to recognize when she was at least making the effort to tread carefully.

“Find out how my prints came to be there and any connection she may have had to me” he ordered.

“Why?” she asked, a little less gently and more like her old self.

“Because it may go some way towards making up for the fact you betrayed me to Pierce” he informed her with a clipped tone. She definitely hadn’t earned back the right to speak to him like that.

“No, I mean why do you care?” she clarified in a slightly more respectful tone.

“Because I need to prove to The Detective that I wasn’t involved” He said. Linda and Maze shared a look and the Doctor gave several quick nods of encouragement from behind his back.

“Alright” Maze agreed and turned to go but Lucifer held up a hand.

“However, you are to do so without the Detective becoming aware of your involvement and you are not to interfere with her investigation in any negative way.” Lucifer stipulated. Maze said nothing but nodded before picking up a jacket and leaving. Linda waved the shirt she held in despair as the demon left with the room still a mess however she quickly turned her attention back to Lucifer.

“So, you saw Chloe?” she asked. He turned towards her and she recognised the look on his face. It was the same as when she had come to see him in the Penthouse. When he had finally admitted he cared for Chloe and thought he’d lost her. Although this time, after everything, Linda wasn’t sure what to say. They didn’t officially have sessions anymore but she had gotten into the habit of dropping by Lux. She was worried about him and each time she would try to get him to talk about what had happened. Sometimes she’s get a few meaningful words out of him but mostly he’d just shut her down. But if he had actually spoken to Chloe perhaps today would be different.

“Good day, Doctor” he said with a small nod and left. 

“I really should be used to that” She said to herself before turning back to the mess Maze had left behind.

\------

Back at the station, Decker stepped into Ella’s lab and the little forensic tech immediately put down the evidence bag she was holding.

“Hey Chloe, how are you doing? Are you ok? Do you need a hug?” She asked in a rush as she stepped over and raised her arms but Decker held up her hand.

“I’m good” She said and pulled Lucifer’s phone out of her pocket. “I need you to check this for any connection to our victim” she entered the password and handed it over. Ella watched as she typed and raised her eyebrows.

“Um, isn’t this Lucifer’s?” She asked as she took the device and looked at it dubiously.

“Yes” Chloe stated without further explanation.

“But we didn’t find a phone at the scene. What am I supposed to compare it to? You can’t possibly think he’s involved in all this?” she seemed crestfallen at the very idea but Chloe only shook her head.

“Regardless of what or who Lucifer may be...to the department ... we have a duty to investigate every lead and currently it looks like he was involved...somehow. I need you to find out what he’s up to. What have we got so far?” Decker said.

“Ooooookay” Ella seemed unsure how to take Chloe’s reply so quickly put the phone down and turned to the file open on the table. “Autopsy report came back. Time of death somewhere between midnight and four AM Tuesday. It was hard to tell with all the post-mortem damage but M.E. is pretty sure cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head”

“So she’s been missing for almost two days? Ok, but what about the ligature marks? I thought you said she was strangled?”

“She was but there was also bleeding on the brain from the impact so she was definitely still alive when it happened. Our best guess is she was strangled with the purse strap” She picked up the evidence bag containing the designer accessory so Decker could see the chunky chain strap and held it up to her own throat. She rocked from side to side in a pantomime of being choked, “She struggled but as they squeezed tighter and tighter she would have got weaker and weaker. Then BAM! Killer rammed her head into something to finish her off” Ella gave a dramatic jump toward the table top for emphasis before putting the bag down.

“And then they threw the body in a dumpster” Chloe mused “Ok, any luck on an ID?”

“Not really but I may have something. I bagged a lot of the surrounding trash to see if it could give us any idea of where she came from and I found these” She picked up several more evidence bags containing used envelopes and a subscription magazine.

“You got an address?” Chloe was astonished. Ella must have gone elbow deep in trash to find all these.

“Well, I found a lot from the same block and all of those are the same apartment building AND it matches one of the areas from Dan’s list of garbage collections he got from the Foreman”

“So it’s likely at or near the place she was killed?”

“Or at least where her body got dumped” Ella looked proud of herself and Chloe smiled as she checked the address. It didn’t look to be near any party venues she knew and was in a less reputable neighbourhood. But then Lucifer had always kept up with nightlife hotspots, so she never had to. If it had ever come up in a case she would have just asked him. Now she couldn’t, so would have to look into it herself.

“Good job, I’ll check it out” Decker put the evidence down and turned to leave when Ella coughed. Chloe paused for a moment then realised her mistake. “I mean, I’ll get Dan to check it out” she corrected herself.

“Still getting used to being the boss?” Ella said with a smile to which Chloe huffed and then looked up quickly.

“Yes, I am the boss. Which means I can choose to accompany any of my detectives on a case that involves a prominent local business owner...allegedly” Ella gave her a knowing look before glancing at an imaginary wrist watch to indicate the time with another cough. 

Chloe closed her eyes as she saw how late it was. She’d been working so hard recently she hadn’t even noticed how tired she was which, at least to her, was a good thing. She realised she still needed to finish the reports for the Captain, collect Trixie from the Babysitter, make dinner and, somehow, try to get her first decent night’s sleep in weeks. Lately falling exhausted into bed at the end of the day was the only way she was getting any rest. She sighed.

“In the morning. We can check it out first thing in the morning” She added, and Ella smiled at her as she left.


	4. Chapter 4

Linda carefully picked her way down the steps into Lux. The lights and music were in full swing even through it was still relatively early. It may have been dark outside but most clubs wouldn’t be open for hours yet. Not that Lux ever really needed to conform to it’s supposed competition. Lucifer could open and close Lux on a whim and it would still be one of the most popular venues in the city. Although Linda suspected people where drawn more to him and his celestial magnetism than the actual club, even if they did serve a great martini.

 

She pushed through a group of socialites at the bottom of the stairs and tried to pick out Lucifer. He wasn’t hard to spot, amongst all the gyrating bodies he was the only one standing still as he lent on the far end of the bar. Even the man in front of him shifted from one foot to the other in constant motion. Linda made her way over as the man held up his clasped hands in a pleading gesture.

“No” Lucifer said and the man dropped his hands. 

“But...” he started and Lucifer pulled himself up to his full height.

“I do not like to repeat myself” he said coldly and Linda recognised the tension in his shoulders. She wondered if the stranger would carry on but the man only hung his head in defeat and left. Lucifer turned to the barman who handed him a full glass of whiskey without a word as she moved closer.

“Who was that?” Linda asked carefully and he glanced at her before leaning back on the bar.

“Just someone looking for a favour” he said absently as he scanned the room before taking a long sip of his drink. Linda watched him carefully, it wasn’t the drunken binge she had feared however the tension in his body told her that he was angry. However, she didn’t think it was really directed at anyone except maybe himself. 

His eyes were roving the club and she noticed his attention linger on a pair of blondes. One of them held a passing resemblance to Chloe and she nodded slightly to herself.

“A little early for a party, it’s it?” She asked casually.

“Is that your professional opinion, Doctor?” He replied with a snide twist as he took another mouthful of whiskey.

“I was just wondering, what’s the occasion?” She tried to keep her own tone light. Right now she thought it better to get him talking rather than point out his conversational flaws. 

“I wasn’t aware I needed one” he replied in a more normal voice.

“I guess you don’t. But no-one would blame you for wanting a distraction after seeing The Detective” She pointed out, deliberately using his favourite name for her and his head turned sharply. For a moment she was worried, maybe she should have beaten around the bush a little before getting to the point. Then he let out a long breath and looked down at his drink.

“She didn’t even want me to touch her.” He admitted bitterly and Linda noticed his shoulders somehow become even tenser. 

“And how did that make you feel?” She asked and he huffed at her question. He drained his glass and reached over the bar. He pulled out a bottle seemingly at random and filled his tumbler with what looked like vodka.

“Like I was the monster she finally saw me to be” he said eventually before knocking back the entire contents and pulled a slight face at the odd mix of alcohol before refilling his glass.

“Is that what she said to you?”

“Not in so many words” He downed the shot and started to pour another.

“Then how do you know that’s how she feels?” She pointed out.

With the pounding music and background chatter this was definitely one of the stranger therapy sessions she’d ever had but she wasn’t going to interrupt now she’d finally got him to open up.

“Why else would she act the way she has?” he asked as he put down the bottle with a thump and Linda was silent for a moment as she composed her thoughts.

“Lucifer, when I first saw your face it shook me to my core. It forced me to re-evaluate everything I thought I knew. Not just about who you really are but about my own existence. Chloe’s a woman of logic and reason, you’ve described her so yourself, to have the truth revealed to her, especially when she wasn’t prepared for it…”

“But she said I wasn’t the Devil to her” He seemed torn between confusion and pleading. Linda had to remind herself that despite his millennia of life, true emotions were still relatively new to him and he didn’t have the best track record of dealing with them.

“Lucifer, there is a big difference between being told something and seeing it for yourself. You and Chloe became very close, it’s natural for her to be shocked by such a revelation. Have you considered talking to her? Maybe explaining?”

“Why? There is nothing I can say that she doesn’t already know. That I’m the Devil, immortal, unchanging? I’ve already told her all of that.”

“But she didn’t believe you before, now she knows the truth. Do you think maybe you should find a way to show her that you are the same person?”

“Maze will find the proof” he stated, and Linda sighed. She thought back to her own experience of coming to terms with Lucifer’s true nature.

“That wasn’t exactly what I meant but even so, wouldn’t it be better if it came from you?” She paused as he refilled his glass and took yet another drink.

“What could I possible say that would make any difference?” he asked bitterly and Linda considered her position.

“Are you asking me as a therapist or as a friend?” He looked at her and for a moment it felt like they were in their own little bubble of silence.

“Both” He said eventually and she gave a slight smile.

“Then I would say you need to prove to her that the world hasn’t changed just because of what she knows. That you are the same Lucifer she cared about and the rules are still the same” Lucifer looked at her for a moment with a furrowed brow before a realisation hit him and he smiled. 

“You’re right, Doctor, I think I know just what to do” He put down his glass and walked out with a purposeful stride. Linda watched him go with a slightly worried expression. She picked up his abandoned glass and sniffed the mystery spirit. She was pleasantly surprised to find it was gin, not vodka, and she took a cautious sip. 

“I really hope he gets it right this time” She said to herself before draining the rest of the glass.


	5. Chapter 5

“I’m sorry, why exactly are you riding along?” Dan asked as he got out of his car the next morning.

“Because...It’s a high profile case” Chloe replied as she got out the passenger side and closed the door. They were parked in the alley of the building Ella had identified. It was old and slightly run down on the less expensive side of town. Not that anywhere in central LA was cheap but this place came close. Behind them the street was busy with traffic and pedestrians carrying on with their day, completely oblivious to the two of them or the reason they were there. ‘Or that the Devil was real’ Decker’s mind piped up and she shook her head and squashed the thought back down again.

“Not really” Dan pointed out as they began walking towards the front of the building. “I mean at this stage it’s just an unidentified victim and a potential address. Not something a Lieutenant would normally get involved with” 

“There’s nothing normal about Lucifer Morningstar” She said mostly to herself and Dan paused.

“Chloe, you know I’m here. If you ever want to talk about, you know, anything” he offered.

“I know, it’s just...” she shivered as the memory of Lucifer’s scared face raised its ugly head again along with all the implications of his existence and she tried to look at anything other than Dan’s concerned expression. She needed something else to focus on and she made herself inspect the alley. It was pretty wide and would be well lit after dark, assuming all the lights she saw actually worked. Dan’s wasn’t the only car parked there and they’d been lucky to find a space this close. Neither of the buildings had doors into the alley but they did have alcoves built underneath. She thought they might lead to residence parking but as she looked she saw multiple dumpsters, one of which sat open under a garbage chutes.

“... Is that blood?” she said, staring over Dan’s shoulder.

She stepped around him and he turned to see what she had spotted. The corner of the dumpster sported a deep red stain that had turned brown around the edges as it dried. Dan looked around the alley as Chloe moved into the alcove and tried to look up the chute.

“No obvious signs of a struggle. You think she was killed here?” He asked and Decker shook her head.

“No, I think she was killed up there” She pointed up the chute and Dan craned his neck to look up at the building.

“What, killed somewhere inside?” he theorised.

“Ella said the cause of death was blunt force trauma, but she was strangled first. So what if the killer choked her and only thought she was dead. They try to get rid of the body the fastest way possible...”

“....they throw her down the garbage chute and she hits her head on the dumpster which then kills her” Dan finished. “Great theory but how do we prove it?”

“We need to find which floor she was pushed from” Chloe said and she turned quickly and headed towards the front of the building. Dan looked up from his own inspection to find she was already at the corner of the building and swore to himself before running to catch up.

\---

A short time later the building Super unlocked a door on the 4th floor. As he pushed it open, Chloe and Dan peered in. The apartment was tiny, the first room sported a cooker and kitchen counter on which sat a mini-fridge. A single house plant was on a small table in the corner with the only chair tucked underneath. The first door inside the entrance was open and showed a bathroom that made an airplane toilet look massive by comparison. The second door was partially closed and Dan stepped forward and drew his gun before nudging it with his toe. 

“Clear” he said and holstered his weapon. The new room was equally tiny with a single bed by the window and three wardrobes squeezed onto the opposite wall. It seemed completely at odds with the designer wearing party girl they had found.

“You sure this is the right apartment?” Chloe asked as she stepped inside.

“That’s her picture” the Super said and waved his bunch of keys at the printout Decker held of the woman’s fake ID. 

“Do you know her name?” Chloe asked as she juggled the picture so she could put on a pair of forensic gloves.

“Sasha, Sarah, Sara. Something like that. You’d have to ask the landlord. I just keep the place running” the man said, clearly nonplussed about having to let police into the apartment.

“Thank you, we’ll call if we need anything else” Chloe said and closed the door on him as politely as she could. 

“Helpful guy” Dan commented as he put his own gloves on.

“At least he let us in without a warrant” Decker said and the two of them began to search the kitchen. There was a stack of bills on the counter but all of them were made out to ‘The Occupier’. A lot of them had ‘overdue’ or ‘Final Notice’ printed in bright red letters at the top but no name. The first wall cupboard held nothing but food, mostly freeze dried noodles and tinned vegetables, whereas the second was stacked full of makeup and had a mirror hung on the inside of the door. 

“Ok, odd thing to find in a kitchen” Dan said but Chloe shook her head.

“The bathroom’s tiny. Sometimes a girl needs space for this stuff”

“I’ll take your word for it” He said as he checked the bottom drawers and cupboards. Chloe looked in the fridge. There was a half bottle of milk and a box of leftovers that didn’t smell too great. Neither came up with anything suspicious or, more importantly, any form of ID. The table was empty of anything except the anaemic plant but Chloe checked it anyway. As she moved the tub something slid out from under it and hit the floor. Dan bent down and picked up a power cable that was still attached to the wall outlet.

“What is that for? A laptop?” He turned it over to see if there was a makers name stamped on it but it was plain black.

“So where’s the computer?” Chloe looked around, not that she needed to. They had already seen everything in this room and, given the size of the apartment, there weren’t many more options as to where it could be. Dan put the cable down and went to check the bedroom as Chloe stepped into the minuscule bathroom. She didn’t expect to find the machine in there but it still needed to be searched so she turned on the light which flickered erratically.

The shower and toilet were practically on top of each other and she checked both, even lifting the cistern lid, before moving on to the sink. The mirrored cabinet was cracked and with the bad lighting she fully understood why the woman had chosen to do her makeup in the kitchen. She opened the cabinet and wasn’t overly surprised to see toiletries rather than a laptop although she was a little disappointed. She carefully started going through what was there, making sure to check the contents in case something had been hidden inside the bottles or packets.

Meanwhile, in the other room, Dan checked under the bed and found multiple shoe boxes. He opened a few at random and found they contained, predictably, shoes. To his eye they all seemed impractically high with far too many straps and tiny buckles. There wasn’t space for a bedside table so he turned to the first closet and opened it. He was met with a dress rail filled with garment bags to protect whatever was inside. He opened some and checked the labels on the clothes. He wasn’t really up on fashion or current designers but they all seemed to have very fancy names and looked to be pretty high quality. Maybe this was the right place after all.

He opened the second wardrobe, expecting more of the same, but this seemed to be filled with more mundane clothing. The rail sported faded t-shirts and plain jeans that looked like they belonged in a thrift store bargain bin. It was the complete opposite end of the scale from the first closet and seemed much more in line with the cheap apartment they were standing in. 

“Hey Dan, did you find something?” Chloe asked as she came to the door. There wasn’t really space for two of them in the room at once.

“Not yet. You?” He said and she held up a pill bottle.

“Found it in the bathroom trash. Prescription for Sasha Johnson. We should be able to trace the doctor to confirm if it’s her real name”

“Good catch” He said and moved to the final cupboard. This one looked newer than the others and better made, it even had a lock with a key sticking out of it. He turned the key, wondering which end of the clothing market he’d find in this one, and opened the doors.

“Oh. My. God” The pauses were necessary as he tried to fathom what he was seeing. Slightly surprised by his reaction, Chloe stepped in and squeezed around the closet door so she could see what he was looking at. Dan took a second to register her movement but when he did he waved his hand to try and stop her seeing what was in the final wardrobe. 

It was Lucifer. The top half of the closet was covered in pictures of him. Fairy lights hung from the otherwise empty dress rail to illuminate everything. A few articles cut out from local gossip magazines, others printed out from the internet, but the majority were long shots from the inside of LUX. They ranged from him standing at the bar, meeting or socialising with multiple different people or sitting at the piano. There had to be hundreds of them all competing for space, even the insides of the doors were covered. 

The bottom half of the cupboard was made up of shelves and on the top one was a framed photo of Lucifer sitting on his sofa with multiple ladies on his arms. Pinned to the wall next to it was a rough sketch that they both recognised as a floor plan of the penthouse. On the other side was a carefully stacked pyramid of three whiskey tumblers, each with a slight brown residue in the bottom and the top one had clear smudges of finger prints on the outside. In front of the picture was a small MP3 player connected to a speaker. Dan pressed the button and a crackled recording of piano music started to play. After a few bars Lucifer’s voice came in as he accompanied himself perfectly to an old tune neither of them recognized.

“Well...at least we know why she had the glass” Dan managed and he turned to look at Chloe. Her face was emotionless as she stared at the interior of the closet with the dulcet tones hanging in the air. Dan swore to himself before quickly turned off the music and closed the cupboard doors. “Chloe, you ok?”

“Hm? Yes, I’m fine. I’m fine” she repeated the last as if saying it again would somehow be more convincing. “What’s in there?” she reopened one of the doors and pointed at the shelves. Dan pulled out what turned out to be a stack of folders. He handed one to her and took another for himself. The files each had two dates written on the front in marker pen and seemed to cover anything from a week to a month. They opened them and this time they were less surprised to find more pictures of Lucifer. 

Many were out of focus or at bad angles and a lot were multiple shots of the same moment. Dan pulled out more folders and laid them on the bed. As he did so Chloe checked the dates and arranged them in order. They went back several years but there was one glaring omission. 

“Where’s the latest one?” she asked. The most recent date she could see was from five days ago.

“That’s it, there’s no more” Dan waved his hand at the empty shelves.

“But there has to be. Someone this obsessed wouldn’t just stop” she pointed out and looked under the bed and in all the places Dan had already checked. 

“Chloe, it’s not here and neither is the laptop” he pointed out and Decker stopped.

“The killer must have taken them”

“Looks like. Which means they must have been in the apartment” he added and Chloe closed her eyes and tried to think.

“So she was subdued here then they dropped her down the garbage chute. Not a robbery, far too clean. But why only take the latest of the files?” She mused out loud and started flipping through the previous folders again. She paid more attention and started to notice a similar pattern between some of the pictures. She’d seen it herself when she first started investigating Lucifer after they solved Delia’s case. Lucifer meeting with people, shaking hands and talking over drinks in Lux. Everyone from those wearing slick business suits to delivery boys. The people who came to him for Favours. 

“Look at this” she pointed out the similar pictures and Dan looked over her shoulder. 

“You think one of these is our suspect?” 

“Maybe. Lucifer always did meet with shady people. Maybe she saw something or someone she wasn’t supposed to and it got her killed”

“Wait, you can’t possibly think Lucifer did this?” Dan seemed more surprised at the fact she was the one suggesting it. Even if he didn’t get on with the guy he couldn’t see him going this far.

Chloe, on the other hand, found herself seriously considering the possibility. Yet even with everything she now knew she couldn’t see Lucifer killing someone like this. Maze, on the other hand... She dwelt on the possibility that Lucifer could have ordered his demon, ‘I still can’t believe I let her near my child’, to dispose of someone who invaded his privacy. She was certainly capable but Chloe quickly dismissed the idea. Yes, this was something he could have orchestrated but why? He mostly didn’t care if people knew what he did. The last time they’d found someone this obsessed with him he’d been amused rather than offended. As much as she may want to pin this on the Devil it just didn’t fit. He had no motive or, as he would say, desire to kill someone over a couple of blurry photos. However, the types of people who asked for his Favours...

“No, not Lucifer, at least not directly. But maybe someone he met didn’t like the idea of having their picture taken with him. What if they didn’t want proof of whatever ‘favour’ they asked of him?”

“So they kill the girl and take the evidence? Kinda defeats the point. I mean, murder draws more attention not less” He said and Chloe tapped the folder in her hand.

“We need to find out what was in that missing file” She replied.

“Well it’s not like we can ask her about it, we still don’t even know for sure if Sasha is her real name” Dan pointed out then looked at Chloe carefully. “If we want to know who Lucifer’s been meeting we’re gonna have to talk to him” he said and Chloe swallowed hard to prevent herself giving another knee jerk reaction. 

She knew he was right. This was their only solid lead so far and they needed to figure out which of Lucifer’s ‘Favours’ could have done this. Right now anyone who had ever spoken to him over the last few months was a potential suspect. She would have to talk to him again, there was no other way. Then she looked again at the collection of photos and realised there was.

“Maybe not” she said to Dan and handed him the file. “Call Ella, have her and the team process everything and report back. We have someone to see”


	6. Chapter 6

Suki Price opened the door on the second knock and peered around. Her dark hair was in pig tails and they could just make out a bright pink t-shirt but the rest of her remained hidden behind the door.

“Hello?” her face went from suspicion to delight as she recognised who was at her door. “Detective! You came back” she looked elated as she noticed the tall man standing next to her and opened the door fully but her face fell when Dan turned around. “Oh, what’s this about?” She asked.

“Suki, I was hoping you could help us. We need to identify someone Lucifer was meeting with and could really use your expertise” Chloe said and Suki preened at the compliment.

“Of course, come in” She said eagerly and bounded off into her apartment.

“You know, going to a creepy stalker rather than just asking Lucifer is taking avoiding him to a whole new level” Dan said and Chloe glared at him.

“Even if we did talk to him do you honestly think he would tell us anything useful?” She replied.

“If it helped catch a killer? Probably” he said and once again Decker had to admit to herself that he was right. Lucifer could twist things around with his double-talk and half-truths but when it came to punishing the guilty he had a singular focus. Seeing someone get away with murder made him biblically angry. She snorted at her choice of words then realised Dan was staring at her.

“Suki will have a very.... extensive record. That’s more use to us” She said.

“How do you know she’ll have what we need?” Dan asked and Chloe smiled.

“Trust me, she’s very thorough” She said and led the way into the apartment. 

For the second time that day Dan stood with his mouth open as he stared at a wall covered in Lucifer. Chloe had seen it before so focused on explaining what they needed to Suki which gave Dan plenty of time to inspect the wall. It was disturbingly detailed. Various coloured tape surrounded most of the pictures, sectioning them off. Notes with descriptions and dates were pinned to the majority of them and most showed Lucifer with one or more persons of various genders hanging on his arm. It was floor to ceiling and had even started spreading onto the adjoining walls.

Dan started to turn away then glanced back as something caught his eye. There, in the top corner was a picture of Chloe and Lucifer sitting next to each other in Lux. The date pinned to it was several months ago. She looked happy and was even smiling. A second note stuck to it read ‘why hasn’t she been back? Doesn’t she know what she’s missing’ Dan took a deep breath and turned his attention to the conversation going on behind him.

“I don’t understand. How is me telling you going to help Lucifer?” Suki asked, uncertain.

“We believe someone who met with Lucifer may have committed a crime. We’re trying to find out who it is and if we can do that we’ll prove that Lucifer wasn’t involved.” Chloe said patiently and Dan held his tongue, it was technically true after all. Regardless of whatever was going on with Chloe she was still a good detective. She knew appealing to this woman’s obsession with Lucifer would get them what they needed.

“I’m not sure I could betray his trust like that” Suki said and she shifted nervously.

“Suki, someone was murdered. We need to find out who did it so we can punish them, just like Lucifer would want” Decker coaxed and the little brunette looked shocked.

“Someone else is dead? Who?” She asked. Chloe and Dan shared a look then Decker nodded.

“A young woman named Sasha Johnson” Dan said and Suki’s face fell. 

“Sasha’s dead? But she was awesome” she said and sat down in shock.

“Wait, you knew her?” Dan asked in surprise.

“Well, yes, she was really active in the Lucifan community”

“I’m sorry, the WHAT!” Dan blurted out in surprise and Suki jumped slightly.

“Oh, it’s what we call ourselves. Those of us that are really into Lucifer. We have a forum” Suki informed them.

“Of course you do” Dan mumbled under his breath. Chloe shook her head and took a moment to look at the ceiling.

“So, you knew Sasha?” She asked as calmly as she could manage.

“Only by reputation. She was the best. She could get into Lux almost every time. She even got up into the Penthouse once. We were all so jealous but then she offered us the pictures.” She pointed at her extensive wall and Chloe saw the one picture of Lucifer sitting on his sofa in the Penthouse. She couldn’t help but notice it was the same as the framed picture in Sasha’s little shrine.

“Did Sasha give you any other pictures?” Chloe asked.

“Oh no, she never gave them out for free. It’s how she made money”

“She made a living by stalking Lucifer?” Dan asked.

“She wasn’t stalking him, she was documenting his life” Suki said defensively and Decker waved Dan down. 

“Would Sasha only sell pictures?” She asked.

“Well, no. Sometimes she would get...things”

“Like … glasses he had drunk out of or things that’s he’d touched?” Decker prompted and Suki nodded eagerly.

“Exactly! I could never afford it but she could always pull it off without getting into trouble. It’s why I’d always send people to her”

“What do you mean, ‘send people to her’?” Chloe asked.

“Sometimes people would ask for things but that’s not why I do this. I’m not a thief, I document Lucifer’s lovers. For prosperity. His many many lovers” For a moment her eyes lingered over the wall and Chloe coughed. “Oh, right. If anyone ever wanted something I’d direct them to Sasha, we all would. She was the best at getting things that wouldn’t be missed so Lucifer wouldn’t get upset”.

“So did you recently direct anyone towards her?” Dan asked.

“Well, there was one guy. He kept calling me and seemed pretty desperate to have a souvenir so I sent him her email”

“Ok, we’re going to need that email and a list of every person you’ve seen Lucifer meeting with in the last month”

“Do you think one of them killed Sasha?” She seemed genuinely heartbroken and Chloe laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. 

“I think it will really help find the killer and clear Lucifer’s name” She said.

“Ok!” Suki perked up and rushed over to boot up her computer. As she started loading up her email Dan stepped over to Chloe.

“So, when are you planning on telling him?” He asked quietly. 

“Telling who?”

“Come on, Chlo. One of his stalkers is dead, another has been contacted by someone even she describes as desperate. Whoever our suspect is, they’re clearly obsessed with him. If this was anyone else you’d be offering them police protection”

“Lucifer doesn’t need protection” she snapped.

“Are you sure? Because a woman was just killed for stealing his dirty dishes”

“You have Lucifer’s dirty dishes?” Suki looked up with a hopeful expression and Chloe shook her head. Suki gave a quiet “Oh” of disappointment before returning to her screen. She disconnected a Hello Kitty pen drive and handed it to Decker. 

“Thank you” Chloe said and the two of them left. Once out in the corridor Decker turned to Dan with a huff. 

“If Sasha made her living stealing Lucifer’s trash maybe she was killed for something she took, rather than something she saw?”

“Then why would the killer take her laptop, or her files?”

“I don’t know but you’re right, he doesn’t need protection but we have to tell Lucifer” She said reluctantly and they headed out.

Once they left the building a figure approached the main door. The few passersby seemed to instinctively get out of Maze’s way as she headed straight for the apartment Chloe and Dan had just left. She suppressed a smile of anticipation as she knocked on the door. The date on the folder in her hand started five days ago but had no end date yet and it matched the other files Chloe and Dan had found in the victim’s apartment. The door opened and Suki looked like a deer in headlights as she clearly recognized who was on her doorstep. 

“I didn’t betray him. I swear! They said I was helping” she blurted out and Maze’s smile widened.

“Let’s talk” She said and pushed her way into the apartment and kicked the door shut behind her.


	7. Chapter 7

As Chloe came down the stairs into the station Ella practically ran out of her lab to meet her.

“Hey Boss, how are you?” she asked excitedly.

“Fine. How are we getting on with the things from the victims apartment?”

“Oh, just waiting for test results but I did finished going through Lucifer’s phone” She held it up.

“And?” Decker asked, surprising herself at how hopeful she sounded, as she took it.

“As far as I can tell zero connection to our victim. Although after reading through his messages I need some brain bleach. I mean, seriously, that guy does not hold back”

“You’d be surprised” Chloe murmured before pulling out the pen drive that Suki had given them. “Ok, I need you to see if you can get anything off these emails.”

“Sure, no problem” Ella said then stared at her without speaking.

“Anything else?” She asked, slightly irritated, it had been a trying day and the cheery lab tech was clearly holding something back.

“He’s here to see you” Ella said with a massive grin. Chloe felt her heart lurch inside her chest.

“Where?” She managed to ask in an almost normal voice.

“Conference room” Ella told her. Chloe looked over to see an instantly recognizable tall figure standing by the window with his back to them and his hands in his pockets.

“Thank you” Decker said as politely as she could and headed over. Her eyes never left the back of Lucifer’s head as she crossed the room and opened the door.

He turned as she entered and for a moment she regretted not asking Ella or someone else to join her. It would have raised a lot of questions but she wasn’t sure she was ready to be alone with him yet. That was when she noticed the man sitting at the table who stood and offered her his hand.

“Bradley Wheeler, a pleasure to see you again Lieutenant. I’ll be acting as Mr. Morningstar’s attorney.” The high price lawyer reintroduced himself and held out his hand. He hadn’t changed much from the first time they’d met. The same slicked back hair, broad shoulders and chiseled jaw with a suit that looked almost as expensive as his clients. She shook his hand instinctively but directed her attention to Lucifer.

“You brought a lawyer?” she said accusingly to which the Devil only raised his eyebrows.

“Mr. Morningstar has the right to legal counsel. Especially when being questioned in a case that allegedly involves him” Wheeler said as he sat back down. He was much more composed than the last time Decker had seen him, crying at Charlotte’s funeral. Despite everything that had happened during and after she had been ‘possessed by the Goddess of all creation’, however THAT was possible, he’d clearly still had feelings for her. 

At least he’d grieved openly, unlike Dan who she knew was still bottling it all up inside. Not that she could say anything to him without sounding like a giant hypocrite. God it was all so confusing. ‘Focus on the case, do things by the book’ she repeated her mantra again and turned her attention back to the situation at hand.

“Protocol, Detective. I told you I’d get it down one day” Lucifer said as he took a seat next to his attorney, unknowingly mirroring her thoughts, and Chloe bristled.

“Lieutenant” she corrected him for the second time and she sat down. She glanced at him then the lawyer and back before clearing her throat.

“Thank you for providing your phone earlier” she said coldly and she placed the device on the table. She pushed it over and withdrew her hand quickly. Lucifer waited till she had settled back into her chair before leaning forward and picking it up. It could have been her imagination but she swore he caressed his thumb over the part of the screen she’d touched. He was probably just wiping off a smudge she told herself. 

“Overlooking the gross violation of my client’s right to privacy by requesting his phone, can the LAPD confirm if Mr. Morningstar is under investigation?” Wheeler asked and even a first year cadet could have spotted the not so subtle threat in the question; ‘Answer my question or I’ll slam you for targeting my client without due cause’ Chloe was now regretting going to Lux in the first place. The lawyer was right. She’d had no substantial evidence to justify requesting his phone. It’s not like she could have put ‘he’s the literal Devil’ on a warrant.

“No, Mr. Morningstar is not under investigation at this time. We believe the victim was stalking your client and had no relationship with him beyond that fact.” She admitted. Wheeler looked to Lucifer who nodded.

“In that case is there anything else my client can do to aid the LAPD in their investigation?” Chloe narrowed her eyes at her former partner. He was up to something, she could tell, he wouldn’t go to all this trouble for nothing. 

“Lieutenant?” Wheeler asked when she didn’t answer right away and Chloe shook herself out of her thoughts with a cough and straightened her jacket.

“We believe the killer was maybe someone your client had contact with at Lux. Our victim may have inadvertently seen something or taken something they shouldn’t have and were targeted because of it” Lucifer shifted slightly in his chair but didn’t say anything “Security footage from the last few months would be very helpful” She said but Bradley pursed his lips.

“Lieutenant, I’m sure you understand that given the high profile clientele of Lux that request is….”

“You’ll have it within the hour” Lucifer interrupted and Wheeler started to say something. Lucifer raised his hand and the man was instantly silent. “Anything to ensure the right person is punished for their crimes” he added and Chloe glared at him.

“Thank you” She said through gritted teeth and Lucifer gave a slight smile. She wasn’t looking forward to telling Dan that he was right and they could have just asked Lucifer for the information. Hopefully the data they got from Suki would provide a lead and it wouldn’t have been a completely wasted visit.

“Would there be anything else?” Wheeler asked.

“Not for the moment” Chloe admitted and the lawyer closed his briefcase.

“In that case feel free to contact my office if you would like to arrange another meeting” He said and handed her his card. Decker got to her feet as the two of them stood. Wheeler held out his hand and she shook it but turned quickly to open the door so she didn’t have to touch Lucifer. She needn’t have bothered. When she turned back she saw he hadn’t moved. Only once she had stepped out of the way did they leave the room. The two of them made their way out as she was left holding the door with a scowl on her face.

He was definitely up to something. He’d avoided her for months and now he came to see her with a lawyer in tow. Her head was spinning as she tried to think of all the possible angles he could be playing and she knew it wouldn’t let up until she found out what he had in mind.


	8. Chapter 8

In the parking lot Lucifer shook hands with Wheeler and they parted ways. As he approached his convertible he heard footsteps behind him.

“What are you doing?” He turned at the question and saw Chloe approaching from the rear stairs.

“I’m getting my keys, Detective” he said with a crooked grin as he pulled them out of his pocket with a flourish.

“Lieutenant and cut the crap. What are you doing here with regards to the case?” she clarified.

“Helping you to solve it” he stated plainly.

“By hiding behind a lawyer?” she said and he tilted his head with a smirk.

“You got to bring a lackey to Lux, only fair I get one too” he replied.

“This isn’t a game Lucifer” She said a little harsher than she’d intended and his smile faded.

“Of that I’m highly aware” he said with a frown.

“Then why?” she implored and his face became serious. He didn’t reply for several seconds and when he finally spoke his voice was quite.

“Because I care what you think of me and… if this is the only way I get to see you I’ll take it” he admitted and for a moment Chloe was moved by the frank expression on his face. Four months ago she would have been silently screaming at him to be this honest and say what he really felt about her. If he’d said that then it would have meant the world to her. But now?

Too much had happened, too much she couldn’t explain, and every time she looked at him it was a reminder that everything she thought she knew was a lie. Her whole world felt like it was falling down around her and the more she saw him the faster it seemed to crumble.

“Detective?” he asked, confused by her silence, and took a half step towards her. She flinched and he froze. His face became unreadable, even to her, and he very deliberately stepped back. “Of course” he said as he turned away and got into his car.

“Lucifer, I…” Chloe began but he turned the key and the engine roared into life. 

“I’ll have the footage sent over for you. Good day, Detective” and with that he swung the car around with an impressive tire squeal and drove off. Chloe was left both irritated and annoyed that she hadn’t been able to finish what she’d been saying and that he’s somehow managed to frame the whole situation around himself. It was just like old times which, despite her anger, Decker found strangely comforting. It left her wondering, not for the first time, how she really felt about the Devil.

\---------

Decker rubbed her forehead and tried to order her thoughts as she walked into the station. She probably shouldn’t have gone out to see Lucifer alone. She’d taken someone with her to Lux for a reason and even then they’d got dangerously close to topics she didn’t want to discuss. After that talking to him on her own wasn’t her smartest move. Now all the questions she’s been trying to suppress were whizzing round her head again and no amount of logical reasoning was making them go away. She was so wrapped up in her own thoughts she didn’t notice Ella until she practically walked into her.

“Sorry” they both blurted at the same time but Ella continued immediately.

“No, no, it was my fault. I should have known you’d be pre-occupied after….” She petered out and Chloe took a deep breath.

“What is it?” she asked and Ella held up a file.

“Um, I got the test results back from the victims’ apartment. We confirmed her name with the Doctor and Pharmacy. Turns out those pills you found were anti-psychotic meds. We found a load more in the trash and clogging up the drain.” Ella told her as the two of them stepped into her lab.

“If she had a condition and she stopped taking her medication it could explain why she became so obsessed with Lucifer” Chloe theorized.

“Possibly, but even with pills sometimes whatever you’re imagining can still be right there in front of you and won’t take the hint and go away” Ella replied with real feeling and with everything she was trying to deal with Chloe could only stare in confusion. 

“What?” She asked as Ella suddenly looked worried.

“Did I say that our loud?” She asked and Decker nodded, “Never mind. Doesn’t matter. What does matter is that we found the victims phone”

“Really? Where?” Chloe asked as she took the file from Ella in excitement.

“Fallen behind the dumpster in the alley. Screen was cracked from the fall but otherwise it was working perfectly. It had a ton of pictures of Lucifer on it but all from the night she was killed. The woman filled up her entire memory card in a single night. Most of them weren’t even very good”

“And does it…” Decker started to ask but Ella shook her head.

“No cross over with Lucifer’s phone what so ever”

“Right, I guess that was a long shot” She admitted as she looked through the file and Ella furrowed her brow.

“Um, why are you trying so hard to pin this on him?” She asked, highly confused.

“I’m not” Decker replied a little too quickly and Ella tilted her head.

“Come on, Chloe. You’ve been trying to make something stick since we first called you about finding his prints” she pointed out and Decker was forced to admit that she was right.

“It’s just…I think he knows more than he’s saying” she managed as way of explanation. It’s not like she could voice her real feelings to anyone. No one would understand.

“Well, I mean, probably. This is Lucifer we’re talking about but he’d never kill anyone” Ella said and then immediately regretted it as Chloe shuddered. “Oh, I’m sorry. That came out wrong. I mean kill on purpose, like murder, not self defense or an accident or something” She tried to backtrack, and Chloe shook her head. Officially Lucifer had killed Marcus in self-defense when he went back into the building to confront him and was attacked. Decker has read his statement a thousand times and even though she knew every word was the truth she also knew he’d left things out. He must have done. There’s no way a human with a knife could be a threat to the Devil. 

But then she had seen him take a knife to the chest before so maybe it was the whole truth after all. No, there had to be more. She realized Ella was waiting for a reply and coughed self-consciously.

“And that’s my point. An accident, maybe, we don’t know so until we do we can’t rule anything out” Ella clearly wasn’t happy about having to investigate someone she considered a friend but she nodded.

“Ok, well this might help” she flipped the pages of the file Chloe held until she came to the print out she wanted.

“What’s this?”

“Message log from the victim’s phone. A lot of it was crazy stalker stuff, like….a LOT, but there was one number that was interesting” she pointed to multiple entries she had highlighted and Chloe ran her hand down the page.

“All right before the time she was killed” She noticed and Ella nodded.

“Exactly and the same phone was calling Suki Price a month ago”

“Ok, do we know who it belongs to?” Decker asked as she handed the folder back and Ella shook her head

“It’s a burner so normally no…”

“Normally?” Chloe couldn’t help but notice the overly dramatic frown on Ella’s face.

“I traced the retailer and whoever bought it used a credit card” She said as her face broke into a wide grin.

“What? What kind of criminal buys a burner phone with a credit card?” Chloe asked.

“The stupid kind. Card was registered to a corporate account for Vitae Financial, some sort of investment firm?” Ella said uncertainly.

“Anything funny about the company?”

“No, not as far as I can tell, but it’s been closed down for almost a year.”

“Ok, slightly less stupid but maybe our killer used to work there. Is there any way we can get an old employee list?”

“Not from anything I have access to. I might be able to find out who used to own it? Maybe you could ask them”

“Ok, good job Ella, you get on that and let me know when you have something. Dan and I will go through the security footage from Lux as soon as it arrives. Hopefully it’ll give us a lead”


	9. Chapter 9

Lucifer strode out of his bed room and adjusted his jacket sleeve so his platinum cufflinks were on display. Mazikeen was leaning on the piano, waiting for him, but he didn’t even acknowledge her as he went straight to the bar and poured himself a drink. Only after he had emptied half the glass did he turn around.

“Well?” he asked bluntly. She ground her teeth in frustration as his demeaner but didn’t voice an objection. Instead she dropped the folder she held on top of the piano and pushed it towards him. 

“I found the woman’s apartment before the cops did. Real name Sasha Johnson. She has this and a bunch of other stuff in a creepy shrine” Lucifer walked over and pulled the file towards him. He opened it at random and raised his eyebrows briefly at the contents.

“Extensive work” he noted as he flipped through page after page of himself.

“She was just one of your low level stalkers. She wasn’t a threat” Maze stated dismissively. Lucifer looked up and narrowed his eyes.

“Right, and how many stalkers do I have at the moment?” he asked casually.

“Last count: nine. They’re all harmless. I’ve had words with most of them”

“Have you now” His voice was cold as he took a sip of his drink.

“Yes, I…” She recognized his expression and looked down. “I wanted things to go back to how they were. Before Pierce”

“Baby steps, Mazikeen” he indicated the file in front of him. “I already knew she was watching me from what the Detective said. What else did you find?” She pulled the folder back towards her and flicked to some of the latest images.

“I spoke to a few of your other ‘fans’ and they all confirmed this guy had approached them in the last few months” she pointed to a man in the background of several of the more recent pictures in Sasha’s portfolio. Average height with dark hair. His clothes varied from image to image and he was never excessively close to Lucifer but always near enough to be caught in the photos. “They each said the same thing; he’d make friends with them by talking about you then he’d offered big money if they’d get him something of yours”

“And little Miss Johnson was the only one to take him up on it?” Lucifer found that part hard to believe. Humans were obsessed with money. Some of them would even kill for it. 

“You have a very loyal following. Plus, she’s one of the few I hadn’t got around to talking to yet” Maze admitted.

“Ah, so he killed her over a whiskey glass he then threw away?” he asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm and she shook her head.

“Looks like she took those all the time for her little shrine. No, whatever he wanted he wouldn’t tell them unless they agreed to do it. Even with the money he was offering none of the others were desperate enough. This girl” She tapped the folder to indicate Sasha, “skipped on her rent so she could get into Lux every night to see you. She needed money to fuel her habit, same as any addict.”

“So she took money to steal something of mine and handed it over to this foul fellow?” he pulled the file back over and tried to identify their suspect from the blurred photos.

“He probably collected whatever it was then killed her to tie up loose ends. It’s the best way, no witnesses” Maze added nonchalantly and Lucifer reminded himself that despite all her recent developments she was still a soulless demon and had a very direct approach when it came to things like murder.

“So, what did he want so badly he was willing to kill for it?” he mused.

“This might help” Maze announced in a smug tone and laid a single photo on the piano. It was a clear image of Lucifer meeting with the suspect. The man looked to be in his early forties and wore a dark grey business suit. The two of them sat in Lucifer’s favourite booth in Lux. The man was smiling but Lucifer’s face was turned away from the camera, likely the reason the photo hadn’t made it into the book.

“And where exactly was this little gem?” he asked with a sharp edge to his words. She saw he was not in the mood to tolerate her showing off.

“I found it on her computer. Dated three years ago. Who is he?” she asked and Lucifer looked again at the photo.

“Andrew Willmott. He owes me a favour.” Maze tilted her head in a silent question and Lucifer let out a breath. “He desired the prestige of political office but previous, questionable, business practices meant he was constantly overlooked. Some financial scheme he ran into the ground. I pulled some strings and made the records disappear”

“You gave him a clean slate?”

“Always handy to have a potential Senator on the books. Or so I thought at the time” Lucifer admitted.

“Clearly he wants out of the arrangement” she said and Lucifer barked a single, mirthless, laugh. 

“That’s not how it works” he said bitterly.

“Shall we go and explain that to him?” Maze could barely hold herself still but Lucifer held up a single finger to quiet her. 

“What did you want?” he mused as he studied the photo. “Why did you think stealing from me would get you out of owing me? What do you think you know?” He was quite for a moment as he considered the conundrum then his face became expressionless and he put the photo down.

“What?” Maze asked as she watched him cautiously. He met her eyes but didn’t answer. Instead he carefully placed down his glass, turned, and went to the display cabinet nearest the elevator. He opened the door and reached for the box on the second shelf. As soon as he picked it up he knew what he would find. It was far too light. He opened it anyway and felt his eyes flicker red as he confirmed it was empty. He closed the box and for a moment he was motionless.

Then he spun with a roar and threw the empty box across the room. It hit the far wall hard enough to dent the ancient stonework then splintered into pieces. Maze waited whilst he took several deep breaths to get himself under control. 

“Lucifer, what was in the box?” she asked carefully. His head snapped round and he glared at her.

“Let’s go have a chat with Mr Willmott, shall we” his voice was honey sweet but there was nothing nice about the way he smiled. Maze’s lips tweaked at the promise of punishment in his words and she nodded eagerly.


	10. Chapter 10

Dan kept looking at Chloe out the corner of his eye. The two of them sat on the couch in her office with a laptop each as they went through the security footage from Lux. It had arrived within an hour of Lucifer leaving, just as he had promised. They were trying to pick Sasha out from the crowd and, by extension, whoever it was that had approached her. As Sasha was following Lucifer the only way to find her was to look for him, which meant they had spent the last several hours watching Decker’s former partner strut around and make out with almost everyone who crossed his path. 

It would be a long process and Dan started to wonder if he should call the babysitter to get them to stay late as he glanced at Chloe’s screen. Her current footage showed Lucifer sitting in a booth. He was fully engaged in kissing the woman sitting next to him when a man approached and sat down abruptly on the other side of him. The newcomer grabbed his jacket and pulled him away from the woman. For a moment Dan thought he was going to punch Lucifer in a fit of jealous rage but then he pulled him closer and the two started making out without missing a beat. There was no sound but the woman clearly laughed before leaning in to caress Lucifer’s leg as she nibbled his ear. Dan risked a look at Chloe’s face and let out a breath.

“You know, I could probably do this on my own. You don’t have to be here” He offered.

“I’m fine. Besides, this is my office” She replied absently as she clicked through to the next section of footage with a laser focus he knew all too well. Dan put down his laptop and turned his attention to her.

“Ok, Chloe, I know this is hard and God knows I never got on with Lucifer but you have to stop blaming him.” Dan said and she turned to him, confused by his sudden change of topic.

“What?” More than anything she was surprised that Dan was defending him.

“Pierce was a fraud. He killed Charlotte. He tried to kill you. Yes, Lucifer should have told us what he knew earlier but he took Pierce out in the end. It’s not pretty but it’s justice. You need to move past this or it’ll eat you alive” he looked down sadly and she knew the last was meant partially for himself as well as her. 

“Dan, you don’t understand. It’s not about that. I don’t think it could have gone down any other way and I accept that. It’s just…” she stopped as she realized she couldn’t just blurt out the truth of what she’d seen without sounding crazy. She didn’t want to add to everything Dan was going through by making him worry she had gone insane.

“What?”

“It just opened my eyes to a whole other side of Lucifer and I don’t know if I can deal with it.” She managed.

“OK. But I just wish you’d talk to us. These last few months it’s like all you do is work. I’m worried about you” Dan admitted and she squeezed his arm.

“I know and I appreciate your concern, I do. I’m just still trying to get my head around everything and until I do the less I see Lucifer the better” 

‘Even if he was the only one who could explain’ she thought, but no, that ship had sailed when he abandoned her this whole time when she needed answers.

“Well, I’m not going to argue with that” Dan said and Chloe managed a weak smile. The two of them returned to their computers just as Ella gave a gentle knock at the door.

“Hey guys, I think I’ve got something” she said and Decker waved her in. She held out a file and Chloe took it. “So I finally managed to track down that old company, not easy let me tell you. It’s like all but the most basic of records were erased. I had to dig deep but I finally managed to get a name of the former CEO. Andrew Willmott.”

“Wait, as in Councilor Andrew Willmott of City Hall?” Dan looked over Chloe’s shoulder at the file where there was a photo of the man himself cutting a ribbon on some new building.

“He looks familiar” Decker said as she furrowed her brow.

“Well, sure, he’s been making a name for himself down town. Word is he’s even going to try and run for Mayor next year.” Dan pointed out.

“No, not that” Chloe put the file down and returned to her computer. She jumped back through several sets of video until she came to the one she was looking for. She froze the frame and turned the laptop so they could see. “There” she pointed and they both leaned in to see. The paused image was slightly out of focus but it was clearly Willmott in the background of Lux, he was a few steps behind Sasha who was staring at Lucifer. 

“Oh my God. Do you think he’s our killer?” Ella asked.

“Let’s go ask him” Chloe said and jumped up.

“Hold on Chloe. You can’t just go and accuse a city Councilor of murder just because he visited a night club” Dan said as he tried to get her to slow down. She was still so focused on work she wasn’t considering of all the consequences. She stopped and seemed to think it over before nodding her head.

“Of course, you’re right. However I definitely think we need to have a word about how a credit card from his old company bought a phone that called our victim right before she died” She stepped around him and took her jacket off the hook. “You coming?” she asked as she put it on and Dan shook his head in resignation before following her out.

As they left Ella looked at the laptop screens they had abandoned. The paused shot of Wilmott showed Lucifer doing nothing more than holding a drink. However, the video Dan had been reviewing was still running. Lucifer was leaning on the bar with a dark haired woman on one side and a blonde on the other. Their hands were all over each other, as were their mouths. As one of the women reached down below Lucifer’s belt Ella averted her eyes. 

“Nope!” She said to herself as she turned to leave but then she paused and glanced back for a moment before shaking her head. “Still not as bad as his phone messages”


	11. Chapter 11

The office was large and even sported a small balcony that looked out onto the street however the windows were closed as light rain splashed against the panes. Andrew Willmot sat behind his desk and reviewed the document in front of him. The intercom buzzed and a harried voice piped up.

“Councilor, there are some people here to… hey you can’t just…….!” a moment later both doors opened with a bang and Lucifer strode in, closely followed by Maze. The flustered assistant tried to push through from behind them. “You can’t just barge in here and…” he started but then Maze grabbed his wrist. She turned him effortlessly with one hand and pinned him to the wall with his arm twisted so far up his back it was almost touching his neck. Lucifer didn’t even look round and locked eyes with Wilmott.

“Thank you, Simon, that will be all. See that we’re not disturbed” Wilmott said calmly and his assistant mewed. Lucifer gave the tiniest tilt of his head and Maze release her grip. As the assistant scurried away she closed the doors behind him. “How nice to see you again Mr. Morningstar” Willmott said with a rather smug grin as he carefully put his pen down.

“We both know that’s not true, don’t we Councilor” The venom in Lucifer’s voice turned the title into an insult. “Where is it?”

“What could you possibly mean?” Willmott was clearly enjoying himself. Lucifer gave a mirthless laugh as he strode forward slowly. Every single muscle was taut and his anger rolled off him like a cloak but he held himself back.

“Were you always planning something like this?” He asked as he inspected the man. He hadn’t changed much since they last met. His suit was a little more expensive and his hair had a little more grey. However, Lucifer could still see the same deep ambition in the man’s eyes. Now he realized he had misjudged how much of a control freak Wilmott was. He never would have returned the favour. Even if he hadn’t committed murder he would have tried something else to attempt to get out of it.

“Something like what?” Willmott was oozing smug and Lucifer growled. He had admired the confidence when he agreed to grant him his favour. Now it grated across his already strained patience.

“Trying to find a way to weasel out of it. My favour opened so many doors for you” Lucifer’s tone was honey sweet as he indicated the fancy office but every muscle was tense as he walked around the desk. By the door Maze carefully placed the folder and laptop she held on a side table with a gloved hand. Wilmott and Lucifer were too focused on each other to notice as the Devil moved closer.

“You would have gained access to police reports. Not hard for a corrupt little maggot like you to make the connection when you’d been following me so obsessively. So, this is the last time I’ll ask nicely. Where is it?” Lucifer demanded and Willmott turned to face him. He tilted back in his leather chair, clearly enjoying himself.

“Oh, is someone holding something over you and you don’t know what they’re going to make you do? That must be frustrating” he chuckled. Maze didn’t move a muscle at the taunt but held her breath in anticipation. The corner of Lucifer’s lip curled but it wasn’t a smile. For a second Willmott gloated and then Lucifer lunged. He grabbed him by the neck and the expensive chair toppled over as he effortlessly carried him back, slamming him in to the wall.

“I told you that was the last time I would ask nicely” He spat as his rage and anger concentrated into his voice. Willmott struggled as he tried to get his feet to touch the ground but Lucifer held him up. He moved closer till he was less than an inch from the Councilor’s nose and as he did he changed his face.

“Where is it?!” he screamed and the man’s eyes went wide. He jabbered at the scarred red flesh that was now in front of him. Burning eyes drilled into him and he trembled uncontrollably. Lucifer’s lips twitched in satisfaction as he watched the man squirm but, as enjoyable as he found it, he could see it wasn’t getting him what he needed. He pulled back, returned his human face and dropped Willmott to the floor. The man immediately curled into the fetal position and started to cry. Lucifer let out a huff of frustration as the human tried to hide his head in a ball of terror.

“Mazikeen” he gave no other instruction, but the demon immediately walked over and picked Willmott up off the floor. As she dragged him to his feet Lucifer turned and righted the leather chair. He sat down and put his feet up on the desk as Maze put the Councilor in a head lock from behind and forced him to look at him.

“Now, let’s start again shall we. You came to me for a favour that I duly granted but you never intended to repay it. In fact, you spent your new-found influence trying to find a way out of our agreement. Then a couple of police reports cross your desk. You make a connection and realize that if you can lay your hands on it you might have something to bargain with.” Lucifer stood to face Willmott again and the man mewed in fear.”The only thing I’m unsure about is did you always intend to kill the woman?” Willmott looked confused for a moment. “Answer me!” Lucifer demanded and Maze tightened her grip around his neck for a beat.

“She was just some nobody who could get me what I needed” Wilmott blurted.

“Then why did you kill her?”

“She…she figured me out. She didn’t want to give it to me. She was going to tell people. I didn’t have a choice.” He stammered and Lucifer’s eyes flickered red in anger.

“Oh, you had a choice. Just like you have one now” he purred “you can give back what you stole and confess your murderous actions to the police who’ll put you in prison for the rest of your miserable life or…” His face momentarily flickered between his human and devil form “we can continue this conversation elsewhere” Maze tightened her grip again for emphasis and Willmott went stiff with fear. He nodded as much as he could around the choke hold and tried to reach for his desk. 

Lucifer gave a nod and Maze released him. The man fell onto all fours in front of Lucifer and sobbed before pushing himself up onto his knees. He scrambled for his desk and grabbed a pen before frantically scribbling on a piece of paper. He then opened a drawer and dug around until he pulled out a small key with a shaking hand. He held the two up and Lucifer snatched the paper. Willmott jumped as he read it and the Devil gave him a derogative look. 

“What is it with criminals and safety deposit boxes?” he said with a sigh and took the key from Willmott’s unresisting fingers.

“Are… are we good?” The man asked, still on his knees, his voice shaking.

“Oh, not by a long shot Councilor. No, you still owe me a favour” Lucifer announced as he laid a hand on the man’s shoulder and Willmott gave an involuntary squeak as he touched him. “But if you really want us to be even then here’s what you have to do” Lucifer lent down and whispered in the man’s ear. He eventually pulled back and Willmott nodded vigorously.

“Yes. Yes! Anything” The man was crying as he pleaded. The intercom buzzed again and the hesitant voice of his assistant came through.

“I’m terribly sorry Councilor, I know you said you didn’t want to be disturbed but the police are here to see you” Willmott looked up at Lucifer in surprise but the Former Lord of Hell only tilted his head slightly and nodded towards the intercom. With a shaking hand the Councilor reached over and pressed the button. 

“Show….show them in” he croaked.

“Right away” his assistant replied. Willmott released the switch and turned back as a breeze blew through the room.

“But how do I explain…” Lucifer was gone. So was Maze. Rain splashed in from the now open balcony but the two were nowhere to be seen. The door to the office opened and he spun round in fright, still on his knees as two people entered. 

“Councilor, we’d like to ask you a few questions about Vitae Financial. This is Detective Espenoza, I’m Lieutenant….”

“Oh thank God you’re real!” he blurted out “It was me, I did it. I killed that girl” he pulled himself up on his desk before stepping round and dropping back to his knees right in front of a stunned Decker. “Arrest me!”

“What?” She managed as she took note of his disheveled appearance. 

“She wouldn’t steal for me so I strangled her and threw her in the garbage. Now please take me away. I need to be punished” he pleaded and held up his hands to receive handcuffs.

“What did you say?” Chloe was instantly suspicious of his choice of words. 

“It was me. I’m the killer. Please take me away” Willmott repeated but Chloe shook her head.

“No, after that. You want to be punished?” the man was clearly an emotional wreck and she looked around the room. The impressive desk and chair were both in their proper place, although the papers looked a little untidy. A picture on the wall was slightly crooked and she couldn’t help but notice the balcony door was open even through it was raining. “Councilor, was someone else just here?” She asked carefully, and the man’s eyes went wide with fear.

“NO!” he leapt up and grabbed the front of her jacket with both hands. “ARREST ME!” he screamed and Decker was forced back a step. 

Dan reacted immediately and pushed the two of them apart before taking hold of Wilmott’s wrist. He turned the man round in a classic police arm lock and pushed him face down onto his desk. 

“Andrew Willmott you’re under arrest for the murder of Sasha Johnson” he announced as he pulled out his cuffs and locked the man’s hands behind his back. As he secured the Councilor, Decker took a closer look at the room. The balcony door wasn’t broken and had clearly been opened deliberately. The scattered papers on the desk didn’t really tell her anything, not everyone liked to keep their workspace as tidy as she did. The heavy chair seemed slightly misaligned with the desk but that only added to her suspicion without confirming anything. 

She circled the room, trying to spot the smallest thing that didn’t seem to belong. The heavy side boards were highly polished and she soon noticed the things Maze had planted. The folder matched the set they had found in Sasha’s apartment and she highly suspected the laptop would turn out to be hers as well. That and the heartfelt confession were just a little too convenient for her liking. However, whilst she could guess how they came to be there she had no logical way to explain it to anyone else. Once again she was struck by a feeling of isolation that made her shiver.

“Chloe, you ok?” Dan asked as he looked behind him and she shook herself out of her daze.

“Yes. I’m fine. I’m fine”


	12. Chapter 12

The penthouse was silent. Lucifer sat at the piano and ran his fingers over the keys but he didn’t play. It was dark outside and he was beginning to wonder if he had misjudged things. Maybe she wouldn’t come. He picked up his glass and drained the last of the high end scotch. He stood and turned towards the bar just as the elevator doors opened with a chime. His breath caught when he saw her as a mix of emotions he could still barely comprehend hit him. She was alone and took a single step into the room but didn’t come any closer.

“You took your time, Detective. I expected you hours ago” He managed to convey his usual flippant tone despite his inner turmoil. She narrowed her eyes at him.

“Really, and why is that?” she asked and he moved to the bar to refill his glass with a generous portion. 

“I hear you made an arrest in the murder of that poor woman. Congratulations” He raised his glass in salute and downed half its contents in a single swallow. Chloe worked her jaw as she glanced around the room before finally turning to look at him. 

“What did you do?” She asked plainly as she crossed her arms.

“What could you possibly mean Detect…”

“Lieutenant. And you know what I mean” she interrupted. Lucifer hadn’t meant to avoid the question. Giving straight answers just wasn’t in his nature and when stressed he acted on instinct. He sighed as he topped up his glass. He never lied but for the first time in a long while he felt the desire to tell the whole truth.

“I had a little chat with the Councilor shortly before you arrived” he admitted and crossed back over to the piano. He deliberately stood on the other side so there was a barrier between them and she finally took another step into the room.

“I knew you had something to do with this” she hissed and her hand twitched briefly towards her gun. 

“Why? What did he tell you?” Lucifer asked calmly and she tried to decide which action to take. 

“That he hired Sasha to steal something from you but when she refused he killed her. He had things from her apartment in his office and he confessed to all of it. He didn’t even ask for a lawyer” She said.

“Well, useful as lawyers can be they do sometimes get in the way” he replied as he looked down at his drink. He swirled the liquid and waited. She would ask he knew it, she was smart, so it was only a matter of time.

“What did she take?” the question hung in the air and Lucifer gave a small smile of satisfaction before draining his glass and placing it down on the piano with a click. He looked up and met her eyes. 

“Do you really want to know?” he asked earnestly. He knew her morals and respected them. This was the woman who had a chance to kill the man who murdered her father but didn’t. She’d arrested him instead even though it had eventually led to him walking free. The rules were important to her and if he told her what he’d done she would have to choose whether or not to arrest him. He didn’t want to put her in that position but if she asked….

“Yes” she said forcefully and he nodded.

“Very well” He reached behind him, under his jacket, and pulled out the thing that had been in the safety deposit box. He laid it on the piano lid next to his empty glass and she took another step closer so she could see.

“The knife you used to kill Marcus?” The curved blade always looked aggressive, even when no-one was holding it. She’d seen it enough times in either Lucifer or Maze’s hands to know how sharp it was. Officially the weapon that killed Piece was missing. From Lucifer’s statement everyone had assumed the blade had belonged to Pierce, but Chloe had recognized it as one of Maze’s special blades. Somewhere between the crime scene and evidence lock up it had disappeared. Chloe always suspected Lucifer had somehow got his hands on it, using one of his ‘favours’ to spirit it away.

“It seems it’s shown up in enough police reports for the Councilor to connect it to me and therefore Cain’s death. If it had been presented in connection with his demise it would have called into question everything you said. Your career would have been ruined.” He stated and she looked up at him.

“And Willmott’s confession? How did you orchestrate that?”

“All I asked him to omit was his laying hands on the blade. I told him to confess everything else he did to you, so you could close your case”

“Don’t pretend you did this for me” she snapped.

“It’s the truth” 

“But not all of it. You would have been implicated in Pierce’s death just as much as me. You’re the one who killed him” she retorted with an accusing finger and he stiffened at the statement. Her own official account was rather thin. She hadn’t elaborated much between being knocked out, waking up far away and running back to discover Marcus dead. There wasn’t much more she could say except that Marcus had tried to kill them first, anything else would have sounded crazy. 

She was sure Ella and Dan thought she was covering for them, but the truth was she was covering herself. She couldn’t bear the thought of people looking at her like she was crazy but there was no other way to explain what had happened, other than Lucifer’s twisted version where she was the damsel in distress and he came out the hero, saving her from a hail of bullets before returning to confront a dangerous criminal alone. Like the Devil was really in any danger.

“It was self-defense, Detective” he insisted as he picked up the knife and held it loosely towards her, “This blade can kill me. It was forged in Hell and can cut me whether or not you’re around to affect me”

“What?” a confused look crossed her face as his words shook her out of her thoughts and he realized he’d said too much. “Affect you how?”

“It doesn’t matter now” he said quickly but she moved closer, too much a cop to let go of an obvious lead, a potential answer to some of the questions that had been plaguing her for months.

“No, what does me being around have to do with you getting cut? I’ve seen you bleed lots of times” she said.

“I said it doesn’t matter!” he snapped and she took an involuntary step back at his tone. “I’m sorry. The point is, you caught the murderer, Pierce’s case remains closed and everything can go back to normal” Chloe ran her hands through her hair. All this just added even more questions to those already swirling round her head in a constant loop. It was too much.

“Things aren’t ‘normal’ Lucifer” She said in a strangled tone and sank down onto the piano stool. “Nothing’s ‘normal’ anymore” It pained him to see her in such anguish but without her wanting him to touch her he wasn’t sure how console her.

“Detective, believe me, it gets easier” he said and she glared at him. 

“How would you know?” she accused him and he floundered for a moment. He was about to mention it only took Linda two weeks to speak to him again but changed his mind. “You just left me there. On a roof top with nothing”.

“I wanted you to be safe” he said. It was a compulsion he was still struggling to control. He didn’t like to see her in pain and it hurt him to know he was the reason for her current distress.

“And after you didn’t come back” She added in an angry tone.

“You ran, Detective” he could still picture the look on her face just before she turned and bolted back up the stairs. The scene replayed itself every time she looked at him with fear in her eyes. “It was everything I’d feared you’d do if you ever saw my… if you ever saw me like that” a pained look crossed his face as he saw her flinch at the memory. “I thought if I gave you time…..”

“I didn’t need time, Lucifer, I needed you to explain!” she implored him and he stepped around the piano to face her. She watched him warily but didn’t move away. He stood, less than two feet away, and looked at her in silence for a moment. Eventually he dropped to one knee so he could look her in the eye.

“What do you need to know?” he offered and she shook her head as she looked at him.

“No, not now. Now I just want things to go back to how they were before”

“I want that too” He said with relief. Maybe it wasn’t too late and they could still go back to how things used to be?

“No, I mean before I knew any of this. When things were simple. Before I met you. I just want to be left alone!” she dropped her head into her hands and rocked slightly. He was shocked by her confession. He reached for her. He wanted to lay a comforting hand on her cheek or wrap his arms around her to make her pain go away, but he stopped. He slowly pulled his hand back.

“Is that what you truly desire?” she looked up sharply at his words and he tried to keep his emotions from showing on his face.

“God, yes. Please!” she said through her tears and he let out a breath. It felt like he’d been punched in the chest by the biggest demon in hell but he held himself still. 

“Very well” he said. He stood and turned away from her. He walked to the bar as she wiped her eyes and he filled a glass to the brim. He refused to look at her as he gulped down the entire contents in several quick swallows.

“Is…is that it?” she asked, uncertain.

“I won’t contact you again. My word is my bond” he said plainly without turning round. She got up hesitantly, still confused. She walked slowly to the elevator and pressed the call button. As the door opened she turned to face him. Despite everything she felt she owed him that.

“Goodbye, Lucifer” She said. He turned to look at her one last time and her heart nearly broke at the look on his face. ‘He’s the Devil’ she reminded herself but in that moment she couldn’t bring herself to believe it. He was in pain and she had caused it. Yet she knew she had to do this. It was the only way she could remain sane. She stepped into the elevator. Chloe felt a swell of relief but also a sadness and she found herself crying again, this time not only for herself but for him. As the doors began to shut he finally spoke.

“Goodbye, Lieutenant Decker”


End file.
